Asterisk Mark Report – Martinsville #1 2023

Kevin Harvick – This spring at Martinsville, Kevin Harvick was a top five contender, but he finished an asterisk mark 20th. In the race, Harvick finished 6th in Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 20 laps, had a 6.5 average running position and was running in 4th on lap 341, just before he had a flat tire under caution which led to his misleading finish.

Brad Keselowski – Brad Keselowski was a top five contender this spring at Martinsville but he finished an asterisk mark 24th. In the race, Keselowski finished 5th in Stage #2, led 7 laps and was running in 5th on lap 282 before he was burned by a caution on lap 301 which dropped him back to about 20th. Back in traffic deep in the field, he simply wasn’t able to bounce back.

Ryan Preece – Ryan Preece had one of the best cars this spring but he finished an asterisk mark 15th. In the race, Preece started on the pole, won Stage #1, led 135 laps (the first 135) but then in Stage #2 while leading he was caught speeding on pit road which dropped him back to the high-twenties, in which he never fully bounced back.

AJ Allmendinger – AJ Allmendinger finished 27th this spring, but he wasn’t that bad. “Performance Wise”, I think Allmendinger was a mid to high-teens performer, but his race wasn’t incident free.  On lap 282 he was in 15th, but then shortly after that on lap 295 during green flag pit stops he was caught speeding on pit road. Additionally, Allmendinger had the 14th best Green Flag Speed, the 17th best Total Speed Ranking and a 19.4 average running position.